52 



SAN MARTIN ADDRESSES THE PERUVIANS. 



hung a large white cloak of blanket-stuff reaching 

 to his knees ; his long sword, pulled somewhat in 

 front, dangled about his ankles, round which were 

 carelessly laced square pieces of raw horse-hide 

 instead of boots : in this garb he strode along the 

 parapet, with his musket over his arm, the very 

 beau-ideal of a Guerilla. On hearing the tramp of 

 our horses' feet, he turned round, and perceiving 

 we were officers, saluted us with all the respect- 

 fulness of a disciplined soldier, but at the same 

 fume with the air of a freeborn son of the hills. 

 As for the rest they were like so many Scythians, 

 and they stared at us with an interest at least equal 

 to that which they inspired.. 



Nothing else of particular interest occurred in 

 our journey, except that, when we reached the 

 outskirts of Lima, we observed a dead body placed 

 by the road-side, with a small cross laid on the 

 breast. Upon inquiry, we were told that this was 

 the corpse of some unknown person, exposed until 

 money enough should be received from charitable 

 passengers to pay for its interment. 

 _ On reaching the city, we found that the ebulli- 

 tion caused by the recent events had by no means 

 subsided. Doubts and difficulties presented them- 

 selves in fearful array before the eyes of the inha- 

 bitants. The Spaniards, who formed the wealthy 

 class, were sadly perplexed : if they declined 

 entering into San Martin's views, their property 

 and their persons were liable to confiscation ; if 

 they acceded to his terms, they became committed 

 to their own government, which, it was still pos- 

 sible, might return to visit them with equal ven- 

 geance. The natives, on the other hand, who had 

 better reason to be confident, were even more 

 alarmed at the consequences of their present acts. 

 Many questioned San Martin's sincerity ; many 

 doubted his power to fulfil his engagements. To 

 most of the inhabitants of Lima, long pampered in 

 the lap of prosperity, such subjects were quite 

 new, and it was, therefore, to be expected that 

 alarm and indecision should fill every breast. 



In the midst of this general doubt and difficulty, 

 perhaps the least at ease was the great mover of 

 the whole, to whom every one, of whatever party, 

 looked up for protection— the confident and the 

 doubting— the Patriot as well as the Spaniard; 

 and it required a skilful hand indeed to steer the 

 vessel of the state at such a moment. 



The difficulties of San Martin's situation, and, 

 in general, the nature of the duties which now 

 devolved upon him, are so clearly pointed out in 

 an address to the Peruvians, which he published 

 about this time, that an extract will be read with 

 interest ; especially as it is free from what has 

 been well called revolutionary jargon ; in the use 

 of which the Spaniards, and their South American 

 descendants, are great adepts. 



" The work of real difficulty, and that which 

 must be courageously, firmly, and circumspectly 

 undertaken, is to correct the vague ideas which 

 the former government has left impressed on the 

 minds of the present generation. It is not to be 

 supposed, however, that this difficulty consists so 

 much in the want of acquaintance with the ade- 

 quate means by which the end is to be accom- 

 plished; as in the dangerous precipitancy with 

 which new governments reform the abuses they 

 find established. In the first place, liberty, which 

 is the most ardent object of our wishes, must be 



bestowed with caution, (sobriedad,) in order that 

 the sacrifices made for the purpose of gaining it 

 be not rendered useless. Every civilised people 

 is entitled to be free ; but the degree of freedom I 

 which any country can enjoy, must bear an exact 

 proportion to the measure of its civilisation : if 

 the first exceed the last, no power can save them 

 from anarchy ; and if the reverse happen, namely, 

 that the degree of civilisation goes beyond the 

 amount of freedom which the people possess, op- 

 pression is the consequence. If all Europe were 

 suddenly to be put in possession of the liberty of 

 England, the greater part of it would speedily 

 present a complete chaos of anarchy ; and if, 

 instead of their present constitution, the English 

 were to be subjected to the charter of Louis 

 XVIII., they would consider themselves enslaved. 

 It is quite right that the governments of South 

 America be free ; but it is necessary they should 

 be so in the proportion stated ; and the greatest 

 triumph of our enemies would be to see us depart 

 from that measure. 



" In every branch of the public welfare, even in 

 that of domestic economy, great reforms are ne- 

 cessary. It may be said generally, without risk 

 of error, although the expression may look like a 

 prejudiced one, that it is essential to strip our 

 institutions and customs of all that is Spanish ; and, 

 according to the expressions of the great Lord 

 Chatham, on another occasion, ' to infuse such a 

 portion of new health into the constitution, as 

 may enable it to bear its infirmities.' To make 

 these reforms abruptly, and without discreet re- 

 flection, would be also a Spanish error ; and one 

 into which the Cortes have at this moment (1821) 

 fallen, by too precipitately changing the religious 

 and political state of the peninsula. We, on the 

 other hand, ought to avoid running into such 

 mistakes, and to introduce, gradually, such im- 

 provements as the country is prepared to receive, 

 and for which its people are so well adapted by 

 their docility, and the tendency to improvement 

 which mark their social character."* 



As a measure of primary importance, San Martin 

 sought to implant the feeling of independence, by 

 some act that should bind the inhabitants of the 

 capital to that cause. On the 28th of July 1821, 

 therefore, the ceremonies of proclaiming and 

 swearing to the independence of Peru took place. 

 The troops were drawn up in the great square, in 

 the centi'e of which was erected a lofty stage, from 

 whence San Martin, accompanied by the governor 

 of the town, and some of the principal inhabitants, 

 displayed, for the first time, the independent flag 

 of Peru, calling out, at the same time, in a loud 

 voice, — "From this moment Peru is free and 

 independent, by the general wish of the people, 

 and by the justice of her cause, which God de- 

 fend !" Then waving the flag, he exclaimed, 

 " Viva la Patria ! Viva la Libertad ! Viva la 

 Independencia !" which words were caught up and 

 repeated by the multitude in the square and the 

 adjoining streets ; while all the bells in the city 

 rang a peal, and cannon were discharged amidst 

 shouts such as had never been heard in Lima 

 before. 



* The peculiarity of these doctrines, under all the cir- 

 cumstances of the country and the times, is so striking, 

 that this extract in the original Spanish is added in the 

 Appendix. 



